“So, are you going to arrange a time to pick up stuff you’ve left at his house? Or is he going to do that first?”
My teammate smiled. That smile flatlined when he saw exactly zero amusement on my face. Exhaustion aside, I really wasn’t in the mood. Braxton was an okay guy, but no one ever said he was the most tactful person on earth. At least he hadn’t asked how I would find someone who gave head as good as Kayden Preston. Even that hadn’t really occurred to me until then.
“You know, you’re funny as a heart attack, dude,” I said.
But I couldn’t deny that he was on to something. Like, if he thought of this as the breakup it really was, it was conceivable that they would learn our secret. Now that we were finished, you would think I would really never want anyone knowing that I’d spent months in a relationship with a dude. And I didn’t. But it would also become a disruption to the team and threaten the championship. AndthatI totally didn’t need.
46
KAYDEN
Imight be a young guy, and I understand that I come off like a hotshot, but I do know a thing or two about the world. For example, I know that you can do stupid things and pretend like people don’t notice. You might spend years thinking you’re getting away with something, but you’re really not. People around you notice plenty of things but never say so.
Unless they do.
Having your cover blown knocks you on your ass. You don’t know how to react. All you know is there’s no point in denying anything, but that doesn’t mean you won’t try anyway.
Ryan Detenbeck was that totally observant person the day after Erik threw me out of his apartment. At first, I’d naturally tried to act like nothing had happened. Then I wanted to avoid the topic altogether. But Detenbeck, a guy not known for a high IQ, wasn’t fooled.
We’d met up at the campus fitness center, and I hadn’t brought up the topic of Erik De Ruiter the entire time. Turns out I didn’t have to. Our interaction during practice must’ve said it all.
“What happened, bro?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He looked up at me, his expression slightly shifted from his usual stunned look. It was one of those looks that said he knew damn well it wasn’t nothing. It also said I shouldn’t bother lying. As I said, you could put a veneer over the truth all you want, but even the densest person on the planet will catch on sooner or later.
At first, I loaded plates onto a barbell, hoping to avoid answering or any further questioning. When Detenbeck’s eyes didn’t leave me, I knew I’d been backed into a corner but had been trapped nonetheless.
“He’s a little mad at me,” I said.
“You guys have a fight or something?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Ooooooh, I get it. Kind of like a lover’s quarrel, right?”
I stopped, stared at him. For his sake, I hoped he was as good at reading facial expressions as I was.
“And then one or both of you went to bed angry.”
“Fuck off, Detenbeck.”
I turned to stomp away, determined not to listen to his bullshit. Actually, I was just running away because I couldn’t counter him. My teammate hooked my arm and pulled me back. Then I stopped and drew a breath.
“A little sensitive, aren’t we?” he asked.
“Not if you knew what the argument was about.”
“I don’t think it even matters what the argument was about.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’ve got a championship to win, that’s why. If you guys are on the outs with each other, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
But he threw me out of his apartment,I wanted to say.I didn’t get up and leave. If it’d been up to me, we would’ve settledthis problem right there on the spot. But nooooo, Erik had to go and be all Erik, and nothing’s been settled.
I couldn’t tell him that, though. Normally, Ryan Detenbeck wasn’t the most serious guy at the best of times, but even he wouldn’t want to listen to the blame game. It wouldn’t matter who was at fault or for what. We were supposed to figure it out. That was how hockey teams worked.
